120 Reasons To Live: The Sisters Of Mercy

Nothing did more to further the cause of Alternative Nation-building than 120 Minutes, MTV’s Sunday-night video showcase of non-mainstream acts. For nearly two decades, the program spanned musical eras from ’80s college rock to ’00s indie, with grunge, Britpop, punk, industrial, electronica and more in between. MAGNET raids the vaults to resurrect our 120 favorite and unjustly forgotten videos from the show’s classic era.

#105: The Sisters Of Mercy “Dominion”

In hindsight, the greatest goth band of all time was also one of the funniest, most ambitious groups ever to appear on 120 Minutes. Take the video for “Dominion”: shot at the same location in Jordan where they filmed part of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. From 1987’s Floodland, an album partially produced by Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Hulk Hogan), whom the Sisters Of Mercy first connected with while attempting to record an ABBA cover. “Dominion” is like a James Bond movie inside an episode of Game Of Thrones, wrapped in a flour tortilla and stuffed with pizza. There should have been backup dancers. Three guesses as to what is inside the folder being exchanged in this video: a) a manuscript for an unpublished book titled A Gentleman’s History Of Walking Sticks; b) the International Male catalog; or c) Vanna Speaks.